1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in hand tools, and, more particularly, to a tool for use in removing anchoring devices from walls or the like.
Anchor bolts sometimes called "molly" bolts, are well known and have been used for years. Such anchor bolts are provided with bendable legs which are bent and spread apart after the anchor bolt has been placed in a hole in a wall and as a screw is threaded into a sleeve rigid to the inner ends of the legs. The expanded legs engage the inner surface of the wall and secure a front flange on the anchor bolt to the exposed surface of the wall. The screw threaded into the sleeve can be used to hang objects from the wall, such as picture frames.
Often it is desired to remove such an anchor bolt from the wall for one or more reasons. For instance, it may be desirable to re-paper the exposed surface of the wall and such re-papering task cannot be done properly if one or more anchor bolts are exposed on the wall. Generally, the wall must be cut or otherwise damaged to remove the anchor bolts therefrom. This requires repair of the wall which is a tedious and time consuming job.
2. Description of Prior Art
Several attempts have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,802,666 and 3,139,675 for removing objects from a wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,802,666 describes a combination screw driver and pliers unit having jaws which open up and straddle the head of a bolt to be screwed into or out of a support. However, the patent fails to teach or suggest a tool for removing an anchor bolt from the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,139,675 relates to the extraction of an expandable blind bolt, especially a bolt with a self-contained, multi-part nut and centering sleeve. However, this patent also fails to teach or suggest a tool for removing an anchor bolt from a wall.
Because of the problems of removing anchor bolts from walls and because of deficiencies in the prior art, a need exists for an improved tool for removing anchor bolts from walls. The present invention satisfies this need.